Prison numbers are yet again a subject high on the Scottish agenda as the number of people serving custodial sentences continues to rise. This is a problem that former Justice Minister Cathy Jamieson got used to during her tenure. She says that part of the solution might be found in building enough prisons, but another solution is to ensure that  prisoners do not return after they are released. Here she paints a more positive picture.

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Another week, another record for prisoner numbers. That’s often how it felt when, as Justice Minister, I received weekly updates from the Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service. So I can understand how the present Cabinet Secretary might be feeling as numbers have rocketed even further, with predictions of further rises to come.

With constant pressure from high numbers, SPS had a difficult task of upgrading existing prisons and taking forward plans for new facilities. But the equivalent of £1.5m per week was money that had to be spent to ensure that the prison estate was fit for purpose, and the new prison in West Lothian was commissioned to give much needed additional capacity.

My views on who should be in prison and for how long might usefully be laid out in a future article, so let me focus for now on what we should be doing with those who are serving custodial sentences.  Society expects that prison will serve as punishment and protect public safety.

There is also an expectation that prisoners are not simply ‘warehoused’, but that programmes should be in place to make re-offending less likely. That means dealing with offending behaviour, making people face up to the consequences of their actions and addressing problems which might have contributed to their crimes.

It’s not an either/or. Whether it’s drink or drugs, mental or physical health issues, financial or employment problems, a period of time in custody must focus on changing behaviour. And we should be prepared to look creatively at what works in practice.
I was interested to see that Kalyx, who will operate the new West Lothian prison, have included Art/ Creative media in the list of lecturer/trainer posts advertised recently, alongside vocational training.

The new prison will require to show progress on reducing re-offending, so I hope that opportunities will be used to link in with external expertise in the creative arts to provide courses and programmes which have been of benefit elsewhere.

I first became interested in the use of art in secure psychiatric facilities and prisons while studying at Glasgow Art School. At that time, Art Therapy in Scotland was pretty much in its infancy, with Joyce Laing’s work in the Barlinnie Special Unit being the only real practical example that I could find, and on returning to Scotland after a year’s  postgraduate course in London, I found no demand for a newly qualified Art Therapist’s skills!  

While it has been commonplace for prisoners to draw and decorate items to pass the time, and for individuals to discover they have a talent which can be nurtured by attending art classes, it has become more common over the years to use creative arts, including drama and music, as a way of helping prisoners face up to real life issues.   

As well as Theatre Nemo’s work,  dealing with some of the issues around mental health, Artlink  Central has worked with women in Cornton Vale, on drama, music and creative writing, and in producing artwork and video material for ‘A Culture of Two Halves’ – a hard hitting anti sectarian project in Polmont,  

There is always a risk that projects like these will be portrayed as ‘soft’ on crime, or a waste of money.  I can already hear people questioning   - why bother to help women in Cornton Vale put on a pantomime or record a CD working with professional musicians?  
Why should prisoners get a drama project to help their self confidence?

And of course it would be entirely understandable for victims of crime to be sceptical.  But most of the victims of crime I have spoken to are clear that they want people to come out of prison less likely to offend than when they went in.

The creative arts on their own are not a substitute for other programmes in prison, but they can complement them.

If using drama, art or music can be shown to assist  in changing attitudes, mindsets and behaviours leading in turn to reducing reoffending, then I’m sure that they would see the modest amounts spent on projects like this as money well spent.